


burn and rave at close of day

by shockvaluecola



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Betrayal, Blood Drinking, Evil Twins, Gen, Multi, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-27 13:58:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8404306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shockvaluecola/pseuds/shockvaluecola
Summary: "I said no." Vex'ahlia's voice was low and shaking with rage. "I said no and you...you..."
Vampires are evil creatures. That means that sometimes, when you have a mortal twin sister and you don't want to let her go, sometimes you just do what you know is best.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So the assumption here is that the Briarwoods turned Vax in that first encounter, and then the whole thing proceeded to work itself out somehow and now I can write vampires. Rating will definitely go up in subsequent chapters, but will not involve twincest. Just the usual "us against the world" thing. A lot of stuff here is based on my incomplete understanding of how D&D vampires work combined with what I think is cool.
> 
> I don't really have an excuse for this.

“I said no.”

Vex’ahlia’s voice was low and shaking, filled with a more dangerous rage than she had ever felt. She felt absolutely cold. She felt like she should hear her blood pounding in her ears, but she had no pulse to pound anymore.

“I said no, and you…you…”

Emotions swirled around in Vex’s head, making it hard to think. The betrayal was so deep, so profound, that she was almost numb to it. She didn’t understand how to handle the feeling, so she just wanted to ignore it, finding the thought hard to focus on. The betrayal, the violation, the rage all just blended together into a churning blur of horror that blinded her.

Worst of all, she was hungry. More hungry than she’d ever been in her life. Her entire body ached with it, her hands and tongue tingled with the need to grab something and consume it, she kept grinding together her teeth.

Her teeth. Her fangs.

Vax stood before her, pale and beautiful, his long hair loose around his face. He hadn’t reached out for her, letting her ride out the pain until she had her senses. She was sitting up in bed, wearing the simple shift she wore to sleep. Part of the neckline was dark with blood, where hers had spilled.

“You’ll understand soon, stubby,” he said softly, as loving and gentle as she’d ever heard him be. “It’s for the best. We’ll be together forever.”

Vex balled her hands into fists, feeling her nails dig into her palms like claws. Everything was cold. Vax’s hand settled on her shoulder as he moved around her, and it was the only thing that felt warm.

Vax had been this way for a year. He’d offered Vex the bite, but she’d said no. It had taken her a long time to say no, tempted by all the things she could do with endless life and Vax by her side, but eventually she had turned him down. It had been the hardest thing she’d ever done, and it hadn’t mattered. He’d bitten her anyway. She’d woken from a dead sleep to the cold in her veins, the alien and terrifying sensation of her blood being pulled from her neck. She’d tried to fight him, but she wasn’t willing to actually hurt him and he knew it, using it against her. She’d never managed to rise from bed. His hands were warm with her blood feeding him, and the thought made her shudder.

She felt the bed dip behind her, and his hands in her hair, combing it out with his fingers.

“I will never forgive you for this, brother,” she said, voice still deep and unsteady.

“Yes, you will,” he answered, and began to braid her hair, using a precision he hadn’t had in life. He explained to her that it was time to get up now; that they belonged to the night and that Vex needed sustenance, so he was going to fix this bedhead and then help her get dressed, and then they would take care of that hunger.

It hurt. Her entire being was consumed with the need for it, like every craving she’d ever had, hitting all at once and multiplied tenfold. She’d have traded all the gold in the world to slake this thirst. She tried to find a way to fight it, but her mind was consumed with the pain and she couldn’t seem to get a foothold in her thoughts.

He braided her hair and helped her out of her nightdress, then into her armor, piece by piece. She didn’t have the strength to resist him anymore, willing to do anything if he was promising to make it stop _hurting._

Vax tucked her feathers over her ear, once she was dressed, and slung her bow and quiver over her body, the way she always wore them. Then, he ushered her out of her bedroom and down flights of stairs. Vex wasn’t paying attention to where they were going, or how fast, but she was dimly aware that it was faster than either of them ought to be capable, faster even than the boots should give him. Into the dungeon they went, to a short series of cells, and he snagged a ring of keys off a wall as they entered.

Vex needed no instruction; Vax just unlocked the door to the cell and stepped back. Inside and knocked out with blows to the head were three victims for her, hale and hearty men who’d once been town guards, now little better than cattle. Vax had made sure they couldn’t hurt her, but otherwise chosen strong ones — only the best for his sister.

One day soon, they’d share this experience, but the first meal was nothing but a feral frenzy. The change took a lot out of a body, and a new vampire needed to gorge themselves or risk dying before they even got a chance at unlife. Vax had planned carefully for this, collecting the victims at shift change when they wouldn’t be missed for awhile, putting them in this cell, checking that they were out cold before going up to his sister’s bedroom. Sedately, he went over and shut the heavy wooden door of the dungeon, blocking sound, and hung the keys back up, as if entirely unaware of the slaughter happening in the cell. He went and leaned in the doorway of the cell and crossed his arms over his chest, watching.

She’d finished the first already and was nearly done with the second. One of her feathers had a single drop of blood spatter on it, turning it a dark brownish-violet, almost black in the dim light, and it made Vax smile. It suited her. Even feral and voracious on the floor, she was beautiful. His beautiful sister, preserved like this forever. He decided that _even_ was the wrong word; she was _especially_ beautiful. The light caught her hair and made it shine blue, because true to form, Vax had chosen a full moon night to give Vex the gift. There was a kind of poetry and significance there that he could appreciate.  

It didn’t take long for her to finish, which didn’t surprise Vax. He knew Vex would take to it. She was already a hunter. She looked up at him, mouth smeared dark, thick trails running down her chin. She was breathing now, an instinct she hadn’t lost yet, panting softly as she looked up at her brother.

He stepped forward and extended a hand. “Better?”

She took his hand and rose with unnatural strength and grace. “ _Much_ better,” she agreed.

Vax smiled broadly, showing his fangs. “You understand now, don’t you?”

Vex nodded slowly. “I do.”

“And you forgive me?”

Her laugh was light and carefree as it had always been in life, with a kind of musical tone it had never had before, like tinkling chimes behind it. “Of course, brother. We’ll have each other forever, now.”

Vex’s change was still happening, so Vax’s strength felt like it would crush her as he hugged her tight. She didn’t mind, managing to get her arms up around his waist.

His face was alight with a grin when he pulled back, holding her by the shoulders. “I have _so much_ to show you. You’re going to _love it_ , Vex’ahlia.”

Vex knew that that grin looked just the same on her own face. “Well, then, what are we waiting for?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT IS IN FACT THURSDAY YET

As a half-elf, Vex had had the ability to see in the dark from childhood. She remembered leading her mother down a pitch-dark hallway and pressing a candle into her hand to be lit, so they both could see. It was just shapes, an oddly flat way to see the world with no color or light or depth.

Now, she could truly see in the dark, so well that she was sure daylight might blind her. The corridor leading away from the cells was pitch-dark, all the torches doused as the castle slept. They picked up the bodies as easily as any small game she might have hunted. Vax had always been stronger than her, and her new strength was still building, so he slung two over his shoulders like potato sacks while she picked up the third, holding him under one arm long enough to get the door open and shut. 

Vax stopped her, then, putting the bodies down and taking a cloth from some hidden pouch. “Hold still, then,” he said, and started cleaning her face of the blood that had dripped down. It seemed like a waste not to get even those few drops down her gullet, but Vex held still for Vax to make her presentable.

“What are we going to do with these bodies, anyway?” she asked. “And more importantly, how will we do it without being seen?” There were plenty of ways to make three bodies disappear, but their movement was limited.

“Most of the castle is asleep, I doubt we’ll be stopped,” Vax said, seeming to decide that was good enough and tucking the cloth away. “If we are, it’ll be a nice teaching moment.”

“Teaching moment?”

“Just be lucky you’ve got me to show you the ropes.” Vax handed the one body to Vex again, which she slung across her shoulders like game, then picked the others up again. “The Briarwoods didn’t give me much, I had to figure it all out on my own.” Instinct had eventually taken over and helped, but Vax’s first weeks had been hellishly confusing.

They didn’t meet anyone, and it was easy to keep to the shadows and corners. It wasn’t far, anyway, to Whitestone’s stables. 

“I keep some of the pigs underfed,” Vax explained, quiet so as not to attract attention. “For when accidents happen. You don’t have to kill them every time. In fact, you shouldn’t.”

“Should I not have killed these ones?” Vex asked, although she didn’t seem especially bothered by it.

“No, no, you did well. When you’re new, you need all the blood you can get.” Vax tossed his load into the pigs’ pen, then took Vex’s from her and added it. Quickly, the pigs inside were swarming the bodies, seemingly unbothered by the cloth and light leather covering them. 

Vax was still talking, but Vex wasn’t quite hearing him anymore. She made a vague sound of agreement, finding herself drawn toward the feasting pigs. She could hear it as they crunched through bone, tore apart tendons, bolted down the meat. As a mortal, the sound would have reached her ears as a disgusting blur of carnage, but now it was almost musical. She could hear the rhythms, the individual sounds. She could take them all in at once if she wished, or separate them all out into pieces. 

Vax smiled fondly as he watched his sister drawn toward the pen, her newly fanged mouth hanging open as she was overcome with sensory overload. Not too surprising — he’d felt the same thing his first night. He saw her rest her hands on the fence that kept the pigs in, and reached out to grab hold of the back of her quiver, restraining her so she couldn’t try to climb into the pen. He doubted the pigs would bother her, but better to be safe. 

They tore through the bodies, and Vex realized with a start that all three of them were gone. She could still see bits and pieces, little bits of viscera scattered around that the pigs had missed, but there had been little blood left in them to make a mess. She doubted anyone else would notice any of it. 

“That was…” A look of bewilderment came over Vex’s face, as she processed what had just happened. 

“I know,” Vax said, taking Vex’s hand to make her look at him. “I know what it was,” he assured her. “It’s like you’ve always been blind and deaf and now suddenly you can hear and see.”

Vex nodded, and Vax started tugging her away from the pens. “Come on.”

Vax’s first days as a vampire had been filled with pain and fear and confusion. The overloads on his senses, the distractions of everyday things made new, had been liabilities. He’d had to keep it together, use every bit of willpower in his body to keep focus and concentrate on the task. He hadn’t gotten to just sink into it and experience his new senses the way he wanted. He could do that these days, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t new anymore. But now, he had the chance to re-experience it through Vex’s eyes.

He let her wander the streets of Whitestone, watching her dart between distractions and following along behind, like a mother with an excitable toddler. Vex kept quiet so they wouldn’t attract attention, although there were a few people wandering the streets; yawning guards, drunk or sleepy villagers. She got distracted running her fingers through a very startled young woman’s hair, fascinated with the feeling of the strands over her fingers, like water. Vax apologized for her and pulled Vex away, although he suspected the grin on his face sort of ruined the effect. Vex didn’t seem to mind, flitting over to the wall of a house and pressing her ear to it.

Vax pressed his ear to it with her, and smiled when he heard what she heard. A small family, breathing softly and quickly in their sleep. Two adults and a child, and the woman had a small hitch in her breath. Vex was looking up at him, eyes wide with wonder that she could hear all this from the street.

“Didn’t I say you’d love it?” he whispered, so quiet no one else would be able to hear him.

Vex’s face split into a grin. “I want to go into the woods,” she whispered back, and like that she was gone, racing down the street so Vax was forced to run after her. She was getting stronger and faster by the second as the blood she’d consumed did its work on her, completed her transformation. She was coming to it much more quickly than Vax had, and he was briefly glad that she’d had him to take care of her, instead of his own hellish beginning.

Thinking of it, he slowed a little, letting her pull ahead. Perhaps it was better to let her experience some of it for herself. She wasn’t likely to get herself in trouble in the woods. There was little in there that could threaten her, and she didn’t have to worry about being seen.

It took Vax a good twenty minutes to find her — the woods were her territory, not his. He found her sitting on the ground with a fox in her hands, closely examining it while it struggled and fought uselessly.

“Can we drink animal blood?” Vex asked curiously.

“You should definitely try it and find out,” Vax said, leaning against a tree nearby. He got a glare for his trouble, and grinned back.

“I’ve never done it,” he said with a shrug. “I really don’t know.”

“One way to find out,” Vex said, and bit down. Almost immediately, she came up spitting, looking like she was going to hurl. “Well, that was a poor plan.” She dropped her prey to the ground. It tried to scramble away, but with a punctured jugular, was already bleeding out. Vax watched it go with mild disinterest, but Vex seemed to have already forgotten about it.

“So,” she said, climbing to her feet and brushing the dirt off her legs. “What next?”


End file.
